TOKYO: Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan’s top electric-arc furnace steelmaker, said on Monday that it will raise steel product prices in July by about 1% to 3%, citing higher costs and firmer steel market conditions.
It is the company’s first price increase in two months and includes its main H-shaped beams.
For July, prices for H-beams, steel bars, including rebar, and five other products will rise by 3,000 yen ($18.7) per metric ton, while prices of hot-rolled coils, hot-rolled steel sheets and six others will increase by 2,000 yen per ton. H-beam prices will climb to 116,000 yen per ton from 113,000 yen.
The company said energy and raw materials costs have continued to increase during the prolonged Iran war, keeping manufacturing costs on an upward trajectory. It added that the cost pressures reflect a structural shift resulting from the fragmentation of the global economy, making it necessary to pass higher costs on to customers.